It was always a frustrating heartbreaker, though. In those first three films, there was always something getting in the way. Initially, it was their respective pride and ego, while Han being frozen in carbonite and used as a room decoration also put things on hold for a time. But then, Leia and Han continued to save each other, and finally embraced their relationship whole-heartedly right there in the Ewok village – for a while at least.
Make no mistake, it was that initial trilogy that sealed Han Solo’s iconic status – just three movies, charting a plot arc and some character development. So, when he returned to the big screen in The Force Awakens in 2015 – 32 years later – it was a breathtaking moment. We’d seen him find his happily ever after with Leia and had dreamed, in the intervening years, that they were off among the stars – saving each other and saving the galaxy, forever and always. But, here was Han Solo and Chewbacca, boarding the Millennium Falcon and surprising our new heroes – Rey and Finn.
“Chewie, we’re home.”
That’s certainly a movie icon’s entrance but, in true Star Wars fashion, it telegraphs far more in what it doesn’t say, than in what it does say. We had hoped that Han found his “home” in Leia – but clearly not. Just like his strong introduction in A New Hope, we’re suddenly itching to know more. Where’s Leia? What happened between them? What’s he doing here? Where has he been?